Syracuse Crunch

Going into camp this season a majory story line for the New York Islanders was who was going to step in on defense for the recently departed Mark Streit. Streit wasn't only the team's captain, but power play quarterback and large contributor on offense. The void that he left made for competition in camp among Islanders prospects as Garth Snow elected to not sign or trade for any defensemen. The clear cut front runner for the position was Matt Donovan who was figuring to be challenged by Calvin de Haan and Aaron Ness. Donovan put up huge offensive numbers in the AHL and as expected he eventually won the spot in camp. As expected he has been able to contribute offensively but has also found himself a healthy scratch multiple times this season. The reaction from fans has been mixed but I don't think it is as bad as some people are making it seem.

Kimmo Timonen's 1000th game and 38th birthday wishes were rained upon by the Tampa Bay Lightning in a 4-2 loss at the Tampa Bay Times Forum. The loss was the Flyers' fifth in their last seven games and fourth in a row in Tampa Bay.

Ilya Bryzgalov put forth a second consecutive strong start, keeping the game close throughout two periods of play. The Flyers only have one victory to their credit when deadlocked after two periods of play.

Imagine opening your copy of Newsday one day this summer and reading an article by Arthur Staple reporting that Charles Wang and Colorado Avalanche owner Stan Kroenke had agreed to a swap. All players and coaches associated with the Isles’ would become Avs’, and the Avs’ would wear the Isles orange and blue on Long Island.

As strange as it sounds these changes happen with some regularity in the AHL. This years’ change was a bit unique in that it involved the AHL’s Calder Cup winning Norfolk Admirals.

The Anaheim Ducks and the Tampa Bay Lightning swapped their AHL affiliations in Norfolk (Admirals) and Syracuse (Crunch) respectively. So while the Calder Cup sits in Norfolk, the names of the Admirals’ players engraved on the championship trophy now play their home games in Syracuse.

The first seven games for the Tampa Bay Lightning were a scoring fest. The Bolts netted 37 goals and went 6-1. Over the last four games, three on the road, the Bolts have scored just six goals and lost all four contests.

Tampa Bay is now 6-5 and leads the Carolina Hurricanes and Winnipeg Jets by one point in the Southeastern Division.

The best thing that happened on the Bolts first extended road trip of the season was the cancellation of their game versus the Boston Bruins on Saturday night. (Steven Stamkos photograph/Susan Ferlita)

On Sunday night the New York Hagelins trounced the Lightning 5-1. Carl Hagelin had t...

After three games the Tampa Bay Lightning are 2-1 with four points and are first in the Southeast division. While it is all but impossible to glean much information from such a small sample of games, the Bolts are buying into Coach Guy Boucher’s platform and are showing signs of improvement on defense and in the net. "It’s going to be defense first. That’s our mindset, because we’ve got the offense," said Boucher. (Photo/Susan Ferlita)

Tampa Bay opened the season at home on Saturday night with a well earned 6-3 victory over division rival Washington. Martin St. Louis and Eric Brewer each scored two goa...

NHL rosters aren't due until tomorrow at 5:00 pm, but after stating the team that practices on Friday will be the opening night squad, Tampa Bay Lightning coach Guy Boucher has made up his mind on his 2013 team.

At noon today, Mike Angelidis, JT Wyman, Matt Taorminaand Kyle Wilson were placed on waivers with the intent of being sent to Syracuse. This means that defenseman Keith Aulie and forwards Cory Conacher and Pierre-Cedric Labrie have made the team. (Labrie Photo/Linda Hamilton)

Tyler Johnson, Radko Gudas and Mark Barberio will be returned to the Syracuse Crunch...

It took a long 16 hour negotiating session in New York yesterday, but the NHL and NHLPA hashed out an agreement in principle around 6 a.m. today.

The NHL did not announce the start date of the season or the number of games each team will play, but it is expected to be a 48 or 50 game season starting on either January 15 or January 19 with teams only playing within their respective conferences. The Bolts had January 15, 17 and 19 as scheduled home games, thus it is a good bet that they will open the season at the Forum.

The new CBA still has to be drafted and ratified by both sides. It is for ten years with an eight year opt-out.

Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman has signed a contract with Barys Astana of the KHL. The big Swede is the first Bolts player to decide to play in Europe during the lockout. The 21 year old blue liner had five goals and 18 assists in 61 games with Tampa Bay last season. (Hedman photograph/Linda Hamilton)

Teams in the KHL can sign up to three NHL players at a maximum of 65% of their NHL salary during the lockout. Barys has also signed Winnipeg Jets center Nik Antropov.

Should the lockout continue, expect Steven Stamkos and Martin St. Louis to take their talents overseas. Both have had preliminary talks with European teams.

The players union seems steadfastly united as 250-300 members are expected to meet in New York, today and tomorrow. Lightning players planning on attending are Adam Hall, Nate Thompson, Mathieu Garon, BJ Crombeen, Brian Lee, Matt Carle and Marc-Andre Bergeron.

The NHL and the NHLPA have plans to meet this morning at 10:00 a.m. despite still remaining far apart. If the two sides don’t reach an agreement, the lockout will officially start at midnight on Sunday.

The Lightning players are preparing for a work stoppage. In that case, they will not be able to enter the Tampa Bay Times Forum or any other team facility.